Category Archives: progressive run

Return to Progression

Start time: 8/25/09, 6:00pm
Location: Mt. Vernon Trail
Distance: 5 miles
Average pace: 8:28min/mile
Total Miles For August: 83 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 542 miles

Geez, I haven’t done a progressive run in, well, quite a while. (Running through my neighborhood isn’t condusive to doing them because of the potential for cars and red lights.) The plan was to start at a 9:00min/mile and then every mile drop 15 seconds. It went… ok. I missed the mark on the fourth mile, but at least pulled it together in mile five. I probably should have done this first thing in the morning instead of after work; definitely warmer and sunnier as a result, ah well. Oh, and my quads were sore (like they were on Saturday but I forgot to mention that); not having gone to spinning in a while is definitely showing. Got to get back on that bike!

(9:04, 8:41, 8:19, 8:23, 7:51)

Hotel Treadmill, yay, part 2

Start time: 2/15/09, 9:00am
Location: LAX Marriott
Distance: 4 miles
Average pace: 8:28min/mile
Total Miles For February: 40 miles
Total Miles For 2009: 85 miles

With Monday being my travel day home, and sensing the jet lag to come on Tuesday, I decided to pick up Tuesday’s progressive run a little early. (Wednesday is spinning class day.) It went pretty well; I started the treadmill at an 8:42 pace for the first mile, then kept pushing it up (8:34, 8:20, 8:13) for each mile afterwards. A nice short but good run.

Progressive Autumn

Start Time: 10/2/08, 4:30pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 8 miles
Average Pace: 8:34min/mile
Total Miles For October: 8 miles

The plan was to get up early and run—except it is still dark for far too much of the early morning. Instead, I went to work about two hours early, then left a bit early so that I could run afterwards. The only downside to that was I always feel a little tired when I first start out, but all things considered it wasn’t a bad set-up at all; crisp air and cool fall temperatures. I decided to try and tackle the 8-mile progressive run (first mile at 9:30, then drop 15 seconds for each mile’s goal time). And while I didn’t hit the times for the last two miles, it was closer than my previous attempt, so overall I’m quite pleased. (Especially since my times for the first six were all a little fast!) Getting there, bit by bit. Although the next time I try this, I may actually go for looking goofy and put on a breath-right strip on the nose. Stupid allergies.

9:19, 9:06, 8:53, 8:36, 8:20, 8:11, 8:03, 8:00 (actual times)
9:30, 9:15, 9:00, 8:45, 8:30, 8:15, 8:00, 7:45 (goal times)

Progressive Oops

Start Time: 9/17/08, 6:45pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 8 miles
Average Pace: 8:53min/mile
Total Miles For September: 15 miles

Well, the plan was to run an 8-mile progressive run. Now, with 20/20 hindsight, maybe not the smartest of thing after having taken a bit of time off. But hey, points for effort, right? And it’s a starting place to work off of. Anyway, I made two big mistakes with this run. First, I got confused/forgetful and started off a little too slow. So instead of beginning at a 9:30 pace for the first mile (and then dropping 15 seconds each mile), I made the first mile’s target a 9:45. Ah well. The second mistake was that I started way, way, way too late. Turns out there are no lights on the Mount Vernon Trail, or at least the portion I was running on once it got dark. *sigh* That makes it a little harder to see the GPS and know if I’m hitting my times or not (plus running a little slower to make sure I didn’t lose my footing), although I’m not entirely sure I would’ve hit those last two regardless. With the later start, the snack I’d eaten in the afternoon had completely worn off and I was starting to run out of energy.

Still, not a bad run, and as an added bonus about half a mile in, Dontastic and I passed each other on the trail. Yay!

Splits: 9:40, 9:23, 9:11, 8:55, 8:34, 8:25, 8:32, 8:21

Excuses, Excuses

Start Time: 8/24/08, 8:50am
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:49min/mile
Total Miles For August: 70 miles

A duplicate of Friday’s progressive run on the Mount Vernon Trail, except this time I was really struggling. Allergies from dog-sitting? Not enough sleep from said dog whining outside the door at midnight, 5am, and 7am? A hot sunny morning? (The temperature was actually lower than my Friday run’s was, but it felt hotter. Hmmm.) Or just a bad run? Oh well. I survived, I finished it, I more or less hit the times. Move on and stop coming up with excuses.

Splits: 9:24, 9:10, 9:01, 8:42, 8:36, 8:12

Progressively Early

Start Time: 8/22/08, 6:30pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:49min/mile
Total Miles For August: 64 miles

Now, technically I was supposed to run this on Saturday (and then on Sunday another progressive run, or alternately a make-or-break run). So it was about 5 1/2 hours early. But I’m dogsitting starting Saturday afternoon until Tuesday, and I know the dog in question likes to get up early. Really early. So I figured Saturday morning might be my last chance to sleep in for a while!

Like before, the splits were supposed to be 9:30, 9:15, 9:00, 8:45, 8:30, 8:15. I wasn’t as dead-on the mark as last time, but since only one mile was too slow (and by all of four seconds) I am not complaining. My right ankle was a little stiff heading out, but by the time I got back it was all good. Oh, and why does no one actually walk their bike through the stretch of trail underneath Memorial Bridge? You know, that super-skinny section of the trail, with the huge signs on either side saying, “Dismount and walk your bike”? Today was a new one—a cyclist heading north slowed down, saw me halfway through the bridge, and then kept on riding. Trust me when I say there is not room for two people there. Ugh. What a jerk.

Splits: 9:29, 9:15, 9:04, 8:36 (oops), 8:27, 8:05 (eager to finish)

Progressive Goodness

Start Time: 8/12/08, 6:10pm
Location: Mount Vernon Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:48min/mile
Total Miles For August: 32 miles

My last attempt at a progressive run was seriously off-pace, never really hitting the times I was supposed to, always too fast or too slow. The idea is to start the first mile at a 9:30min/mile, then drop 15 seconds off each mile. I was originally going to run this on the W&OD trail, but on the way home the Mount Vernon Trail just looked so nice… so I took a detour and ran there. (Which turned out to be nice because during my warm-up walk down through the creaky bridge, I ran into canis_lupus_va on his way home from a bike ride, and we stopped and chatted for about ten minutes.)

The first mile was a little fast, but from that point on the GPS swears I hit all of my planned splits within 3 seconds. Hurrah! Much, much better. Having the GPS certainly helped out a lot; I needed them because the mile markers are nowhere near the Roosevelt Island parking lot and are only on the full mile, but it helped keep me on pace a lot more. Very, very nice. (But can I do a 8-mile version now? *gulp*)

Splits: 9:07, 9:13, 9:01, 8:42, 8:30, 8:13

All Over The Place

Start Time: 7/26/08, 9:30am
Location: W&OD Trail
Distance: 6 miles
Average Pace: 8:44min/mile
Total Miles For July: 68.5 miles

After taking a few days off while starting the lung steroid (yay), the plan was to run a 6-8 mile progressive run on Saturday; start at a 9:30min/mile, then drop 15 seconds each mile. Well, that was the plan. Half a mile up the trail, I glanced at my watch and I was just over 5 minutes. A little slow. So I picked up the pace a bit, hit the mile more or less where it should be… and then my times were all over the place.

What happened to my old pacing ability? I think I somehow killed it with all that trackwork in the winter, which is counter-interintuitive since that’s what gave it to me in the first place back in 2005. I don’t get it. Argh. Oh well. I got a late start, the sun was beating down on me, and I called it a day after 6 miles. (Amusingly, my average pace is faster than if I’d hit the times where I should’ve, which would’ve been an 8:52. Heh.)

9:26, 8:43, 8:42, 8:27, 8:39, 8:28

Lessons were learned

Start Time: 5/4/08, 4:00pm
Location: Rock Creek Park
Distance: 3.5 miles & 0.5 miles
Average Pace: 8:31min/mile & 9:08min/mile
Total Miles For May: 11 miles

Another “2-4 mile progressive run” attempt! However, looking back, I did a lot of things wrong. Got up early Sunday morning after a late night, so not enough sleep, coupled with a lot of work at Artomatic before going running. I also had a not-huge breakfast around 10am and then… nothing else before going running at 4pm. Smart. And I went out on a warm, sunny afternoon with the deck stacked against me. That said? It wasn’t bad, but I ran out of steam big time with about half a mile to go. Still, well within the range of the distance it was supposed to be, and after I caught my breath (and walked for a few minutes) I actually jogged in another half mile heading back towards the car.

Here’s the funny thing—when I ran this route last week? Butch drove by and honked. This week? Rick Carter drove by. Who will turn up if I run this again next week? I’m dying to find out.

(8:56, 8:40, 8:10, and (for the half) 4:02; the extra half mile later was 4:34.)

Brisk and Gray

Start Time: 4/27/08, 3:00pm
Location: Rock Creek Park
Distance: 4 miles
Average Pace: 8:24min/mile
Total Miles For April: 21 miles

My new training schedule has runs for the weekend day we don’t have actual training, so today’s entry on the schedule stated “2-4 mile progressive run” (which is what I attempted on Tuesday). I’d run some errands up in Woodley Park earlier and on the drive home down Rock Creek Parkway, noticed that a lot of the construction appears to be done on the trail—and decided that it would be a nice place for today’s run. So I went home, changed, hopped back in the car and parked right after Pegasus Bridge, before walking down to the Kennedy Center and starting my run.

It was a damp, slightly gray day out. Perfect for a run, in other words. I had the Garmin with me to mark off my splits, and before long I’d hit the first mile at 9:18. A much better start to a progressive run than my last attempt! As I continued to jog along, I glanced down at the Garmin and realized… either it was glitching, or I was going way too fast. Uh oh. I slowed down a tiny bit, but the mile was almost over and sure enough, I hit it at 8:19. Time to turn around… and see what happened on my way back. Mile 3 was just a tiny bit faster at an 8:17, and as I pushed up a bunch of hills in that stretch I took it as a victory of sorts. Still, I needed to show a better final mile so I gave a bit of a push… hurrah! 7:40. A great end to the run.

(That said, if I ever again see someone climb up onto the stone railing over the Potomac and do sit-ups, it will be too soon. Some people are very strange. And brave. And nuts. All it would take is a slight lean the long way and you’d fall off and into the river… which isn’t very deep. That would seriously hurt.)